to their residence, and placing of metal sheets over the windows of their house. Harassment of Chen's family continued throughout his house arrest, and extended to Chen's six-year-old daughter, who was briefly banned from attending school and had her toys confiscated by guards, and to Chen's mother, who was harassed while working in the fields. Authorities reportedly told Chen that they had spent 60 million yuan ($9.5 million) to keep him under house arrest. In 2011, The New York Times reported that a number of supporters and admirers had attempted to penetrate the security monitoring Chen's home, but were unsuccessful. In some instances, his supporters were pummeled, beaten, or robbed by security agents. U.S. Congressman Chris Smith attempted to visit Chen in November 2011, but was not granted permission. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the U.S. government as "alarmed" by Chen's continued detention and called on China "to embrace a different path". Human Rights Watch described his house arrest as "unlawful" and called on authorities to give Chen his freedom. In December 2011, actor Christian Bale attempted to visit Chen along with a CNN crew, but was punched, shoved, and denied access by Chinese security guards. Bale later stated that he had wanted "to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is." Video footage also showed Bale and the CNN crew having stones thrown at them, and being pursued in their minivan for more than 40 minutes. Escape and emigration On 22 April 2012, Chen escaped from house arrest. Chen's fellow activist Hu Jia stated that Chen had been planning escape for a long time, and had previously attempted to dig a tunnel for escape. In the weeks leading up to his escape, Chen gave his guards the impression that he was ill in bed, and stopped appearing outside the house, which allowed him several days before any absence would be discovered. Under cover of darkness and with the help of his wife, Chen climbed over the wall around his house, breaking his foot in the process. When he came upon the Meng River, he found it to be guarded, but crossed anyway and was not stopped; he later stated that he believed the guards had been asleep. Though he recollected his immediate surroundings from his childhood explorations, he eventually passed into less familiar territory; he later told his supporters that he fell